Richard III tomb design revealed by Leicester Cathedral

King Richard III’s tomb design has today been revealed by Leicester Cathedral. The design has now been submitted to planning officials.

King Richard III’s remains were discovered buried under a council car park in Leicester last year.

Set inside the cathedral’s chancel, the tomb will be raised and on it there will be a deeply carved cross. The tomb will be placed on the floor inlaid with a large Yorkist white rose. The £1.3 million project will also see changes to the interior of the cathedral with the windows and lighting due to be changed.

The tomb’s location has been put in doubt because of a legal challenge to bury the late King in York rather than Leicester but cathedral officials said “this was the right place and best place”.

King Richard’s remains were found last year under a council car park in Leicester and in February the University of Leicester confirmed that the remains did belong to him.

The Plantagenet alliance, a group of distant relatives to the King, want to see his remains buried in York, which is causing complications. Last month the alliance won a judicial review of the licence that says he can be buried in Leicester.

Officials from Leicester Cathedral said they were going to press on with with the tomb plans which they describe as “regal and respectful in its elegant simplicity”. Preparatory work has already begun inside the cathedral with test pits being dug in the building’s floor.

The Cathedral’s proposals will now go before a national planning body, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, who will make a final decision in late October.

It would be nice if news stories would use a more accurate portrait of Richard III, who died at the age of just 32 – like maybe the reconstruction of his face taken from his skull? The above portrait makes him look at least 50…

Laura S

The above portrait is a copy of a copy of a re-touched copy (to make him look sinister and deformed) of a now lost original…